Jackson Jambalaya

If he really wants to help people, He would encourage the legalization of cannabis as an alternative to opioids.

One would think that the big pharma would have come out with an array of non-narcotic painkillers by now, but noooo. They share some of the blame in all of this. Name something besides nuerotin or lyrica that you can think of off the top of your head.

8:59 - yes please, we need a generation of zombies!

Reminds me of Dogbart getting involved in everything under the sun. What does Mike Chaney or the Insurance Department have to do with counseling the populace on opiod use? Gotta keep that name out there I guess and he can't be on Gallo EVERY day.

Next, General Hood will issue a memo on official letterhead alerting soccer moms to check the weather before heading out to the games. So they won't be caught in the rain without an umbrella, of course.

Dear May 23, 2017 at 9:25 AM:

Off the top of my head: Neurontin (gabapentin), Lyrica (pregabalin), Cymbalta (duloxetine), any of an array of NSAID's, Tylenol (acetominophen), Toradol (ketorolac), Ultram (tramadol)... shall I continue?

You morons keep wanting to vilify big bad (insert large group) but are not addressing the main issue - the unlawful and intentionally improper use of opioids for recreational gain.

At lease this Insurance Commissioner is advocating for something other than OEM car parts and $100/hr labor rates for body shops....which he just so happens to be in the business of.

@ 10:15- You seem to be medically inclined in regard to medications. Save NSAID's, I'll accept your list.
How many variations of opioids can you name off the top of your head?
Or rather, exactly how many are there?

12:11....At 'lease' WHAT?

Dear May 23, 2017 at 1:26 PM:

Technically there are four types: pure mu-receptor agonists (codeine, morphine, etc.); mixed mu-receptor agonists/antagonists (butorphanol); pure mu-receptor antagonists (naloxone, etc.) and those with mu-receptor and other receptor activity (tramadol).

don't know what you got against NSAIDs...perfectly effective pain medication as they address the underlying issue, that is inflammation.

Now what, pray tell, is your problem? Are you going to keep asking silly questions or work, like the insurance commissioner and Attorney General, to curb the illegal use of these medications?

Cara Therapeutics

@3:14 I use ibuprofen for headaches and all sort of other aches. Great stuff. Absorbine jr. Is great too for muscle aches ( all natural); however, I'm referring to medication the drug companies of this millennium and the 90's have formulated, produced, and patented with FDA approval.

If I were to break my leg 5 minutes from now, what newly developed non-narcotic/non-opiate drug would help with the immediate pain in the E.R? It doesn't seem that there are that many well known "go-to's", if there are any at all.

This cycle of everyday people getting addicted seems to start with a scenario like what I described above. I'm not talking about the common criminal that would steal or forge a prescription medication.

As an aside, I'm not in law enforcement- it's not my job to "help", but I live in reality and realize that this "epidemic" came about because the people that produce narcotic painkillers have not really made much effort to stop the cycle before it stops by producing viable alternatives. You can talk about the neighborhood superstar till the cows come home, but until you acknowledge how things got "this bad" this will be a wasted effort. And that, dear sir or madam, is the bottom line.

Maybe the Department of Public Safety can get involved in preventing dangerous situations occurring at travel ball games, and the Gaming Commission can start a public awareness campaign on prostitution. Let's get creative folks!

Dear May 23, 2017 at 5:38 PM,

Blaming the drug companies for producing narcotics that result in those becoming addicted or dying is akin to blaming arms manufacturers for producing bullets that got those three young men arrested for murder. It doesn't compute. For quite a while, obtaining aspirin required a prescription. Due to its relative safety profile, it became over the counter. Everybody started indiscriminately using aspirin for their various maladies and, whoa, look at the incidence of gastrointestinal bleeds skyrocket. Don't recall the hue over trying to recall aspirin.

As a medical professional, I feel that if you knowingly and willingly use these medications in a manner inconsistent with their implicit intentions, then I'm all for whatever negative repercussions befall you. At some point, we have to understand that Darwin was right. While it may not be your "job to help" fix this, it is your responsibility to society in general to not facilitate it. And blaming the drug companies for *gasp* creating medicines that help millions upon millions live their life every day just a little bit better, well, that's just not appropriate.

You either want a government that regulates your body chemistry or not.

There seems to be an over simplification of the addiction.
First of all, not everyone has the same threshold of pain or tolerance for drugs.
Not everyone has the same body chemistry.
I would remind everyone, that dosages for drugs are based on males and it has become clear that females don't react the same way ( Lunesta was a big eye opener). A huge factor in the epidemic is the increased addiction of women.
The assembly line approach to medicine is a factor as doctors don't know their patients or anything about their patients lives anymore. There is an over reliance on testing and medication and no real understanding of the patient as a whole in body and mind.

We are a society that has increased, not decreased stress. We work more hours, not less if we work at all. If there are children, there is the added work of child caring and maintaining the home and family which used to be the responsibility of the mother with the children and extended family to help. And, we over schedule our children. The cost of living increases while wages remain static. 24/7 news affects our sense of security and peace adversely. It produces fear and hopelessness and helplessness.
So, when you can't afford " time off" to get well and you can't afford medical care, you can , initially, afford a pill or shot to keep you going.
There's a lot of " blame" to go around. But, looking at restoring the 9-5 with weekends off and stabilizing families so they raise children in one place as it was in those days we feel nostaligic about, would be a place to start. Encouraging the access and establishment of a " family doctor" who then refers to a specialist rather than continuing with artificial specialties would be good. Once upon a time, our family doctor, put a cast on my broken arm and leg. He gave me antibiotics for ear and throat infections and noticed early when I had a more serious health problem as my skin, hair and eyes didn't look normal so he sent me to a specialist. He did the same sort of thing for my entire family and knew what medical problems were common to my family. He knew our personalities and which of us didn't like to take medicine and which of us were likely to decide if one pill worked, two might work better.

Politics has caused us to simplify everything to the point we can solve nothing because we never get past arguing , and casting blame and never get to identifying and prioritizing the critical factors of any problem.

It is obvious to anyone with one grain of intelligence that Big Pharma is crooked. Some would even say akin to organized crime. When a natural remedy can be found for most of what ails us, why do they continue coming up with medicines with all kinds of side affects, serious side affects instead of natural organic remedies which would be much healthier? Because of money, that's why. Same reason cancer has not been eradicated. There is WAY too much money to be lost in that industry to cure any of the dreads. I find any arguments to the contrary to be hilarious in this day and time. Same thing with the racket going on with pain meds. Crooked doctors don't help.

Neither the elected State AG nor the elected State Insurance Commish give one flying shit about curbing the use of opiods. They only want their names before the public, hoping for re-election and election to higher public office.

If you think Phil is a national embarrassment, imagine Mike Chaney in that role. At least General Hood is also an official of Hair Clubs of America.

8:59 I hope you understand the problem here. It's not the drug...it's the over-prescription and abuse of the drug. My sister lives in Colorado and was just talking about a gummy bear with 16 hits of cannibis available to kids...and they're going to the emergency room in record numbers. There are great uses for cannabis from a medical standpoint, just like some opioids, but unfortunately some doctors and a lot of people (Mississippi probably more than most) will abuse, sell and addict themselves and others with drugs if they can get their hands on them. So they have to be regulated. Mississippi has a population that considers a handicap sticker a "status symbol" and checks as "entitlements". They cheat the system as much as they can. And the taxpayers get the brunt of it.

I thought this discussion was about the state insurance commissioner issuing a press release. Before long we'll be talking about Jimmy Swaggart and Tammy Faye Baker's fake tears.

7:25 pm, Colorado resident here. We objectively DO NOT have an issue with children accessing or using overly strong cannabis products. It's just not true. But it definitely is a rumor that outsiders love to propagate. Cannabis has been a very successful experiment for those with chronic pain in our state. And it is a very good alternative to heroin profile opioids, which are turning regular folks to the street when they can't get their rx's any longer.

Colorado resident here.
7:25 tells it like it is. Legal cannabis has put the street dealers (the ones who would sell to children) out of business. 8:59, your sister is very mis-informed.